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Rant: June Bookclub pick

Welcome to the June bookclub.
If you're new, feel free to jump in and discuss.

Some of the issues singled out in other threads are:
What is the cover art?
Can anyone completely follow the sequence of events?
Is this book part of a trilogy?
How does the Party Crashing relate to other novels?
In addition there are threads on a few individual characters, most notably Tina Something and Echo Lawrence.
Feel free to discuss any of these things here.

If none of that bakes your cinnamon roll, then here are a few more points of discussion:
+Has anyone read [I]Lexicon Devil,[/I] the book from which the style of [I]Rant[/I] was borrowed? Or has anybody read any other books using this interview technique or something similar? Did it work for that book and how do you think it worked for [I]Rant[/I]?
+There's been a lot of discussion about the second half of the book in the forums, but not much of the earlier parts (I'm thinking pre Party Crashing). Does anyone have thoughts on them or thoughts on the fact that they are discussed less?

+Bonus Question: What would be the theme for Party Crashing tonight if you were responsible for coming up with it?

Feel free to answer all/some/any/none of these questions. I know this is hypocritical, but shorter responses addressing fewer questions at once seem to result in better discussion.

My senior year of high school, the Thespian troupe did a play called The Laramie Project, about Matthew Sheppard, a gay victim of a hate crime in Wyoming. The format of the play was oral biography, with actual interviews of his friends, peers, and neighbors.

We heavily edited it to get it in the time limit, but before that it was unfocused, meandering, and redundant. One of my fellow actors, who I turned on to Chuck, asked about Rant. I said it's like Laramie, except that it works.

I think the form tends be used in nonfiction as an excuse to not edit because hey, these are actual accounts. It's refreshing to see it used where it actually adds to the story being told.

I read this book called "Please Kill Me" it follows the oral biography format, but it was non-fiction, I'm not sure if anyone has read it, it's about the early punk rock scene, the people interviewed are actually people who were in the scene, it worked well for that book and i think it worked well in "Rant" as well.

that style, itself, can be a little tricky to get the hang of at first, but once you do get it, it is actually really easy to follow, plus i think it reads faster than normal writing styles.

i also heard that "World War Z" it written the same way, but i'm not 100% sure, i have been planning on reading that though.

there are so many possibilities for Party Crashing themes. a few that i can think of right now off the top of my head are:
-Pimps and Hoes
-Old People (i think it would be funny to have a bunch of people dress like old people and crash into each other, it would be funny seeing that on the side of the road)
-Cowboys and Indians
-Mobsters

...that style, itself, can be a little tricky to get the hang of at first, but once you do get it, it is actually really easy to follow, plus i think it reads faster than normal writing styles.

i also heard that "World War Z" it written the same way, but i'm not 100% sure, i have been planning on reading that though.

World War Z was a book I was thinking of. It's similar, the difference is that each story is narrated by a different person. It doesn't quite have the atmosphere of a group of friends all telling you what you missed when you went home early last night.
However, it does describe a war, a large event, in several minute pieces. So in that way it's the same.
Books by Studs Terkel also work in a similar way.

My senior year of high school, the Thespian troupe did a play called The Laramie Project, about Matthew Sheppard, a gay victim of a hate crime in Wyoming. The format of the play was oral biography, with actual interviews of his friends, peers, and neighbors.

We heavily edited it to get it in the time limit, but before that it was unfocused, meandering, and redundant. One of my fellow actors, who I turned on to Chuck, asked about Rant. I said it's like Laramie, except that it works.

I think the form tends be used in nonfiction as an excuse to not edit because hey, these are actual accounts. It's refreshing to see it used where it actually adds to the story being told.

I think you might be right.
It might also be used, as one could imagine in the Matthew Shepherd story, to describe horrific events that the author is afraid to comment on, you know? Like they can't really say anything productive, so they just skip it and stick to the facts.

If I had to pick a Party Crashing theme...
Clown Night. First, you have like 15 people packed in a car. The flag would be something like a red ball clown nose on your antenna. The best part would be after the wrecks when 20 or 30 clowns were arguing on the side of the road.

If I had to pick a Party Crashing theme...
Clown Night. First, you have like 15 people packed in a car. The flag would be something like a red ball clown nose on your antenna. The best part would be after the wrecks when 20 or 30 clowns were arguing on the side of the road.

clown night would be hilarious!
that reminded me of something from a simpsons episode... i think Krusty gets into a car accident, he's riding in a limo, and a bunch of clowns pile out... he says" something along the lines of "it's only funny when its a small car" and then they all get back into the limo with their heads down...

Where the flag would be the Red Cross symbol-thing, and the doors in the back would be swinging open, letting first-aid kits, bandages, defibrillators all flap away in the wind, leaving behind a mess. The medical equipment used as a way to track you down.

Oh and when they tag eachother, I've always secretly wanted two Ambulances to bash into each other, not only does the driver, passenger driver and First-aid squad come out, but the person laying in the gurney comes out too. Oxygen mask and all, cursing up a storm.

Now that I'm graduating I feel like I read this novel too late. Because, honestly, I would have done that whole 'Mr. (Insert Math Teacher Here), sir. I've had a serious erection here going on for two hours."

Who else, when reading this chapter, Chapter 13-Sporting, was howling at the idea that men can have their own 'I'm on my period' excuse?

Man, that would be a real revolution for all males, now wouldn't it?

I dont think I could do this in college, so I missed my chance. :(

Either way, this Chapter is something to discuss over.

Women have periods.
Men, who've either taken viagra or been bit by venomous spiders, have priapism.

And yeah, I can count on my fingers how many girls I know who have used that excuse to get out of a Gym final, detention; as an excuse to why they cursed out a teacher, oh, and my favorite, as an excuse to why they's poppin' pills. Confident when they're asked this they say, "It's for cramps." --

I can just picture 8th graders or Sohpmores in Highschool shaking out two round tablets down their throat with some Gray-haired teacher breathing down their neck asking what they're doing. The student, smiling, replying with, "It's for my priapism" :sgrin:

When I was in high school I was out running with the track team. We were on the sidewalk on a busy street. A young girl was walking a pitbull and we met face to face. The dog was muzzled, but it scratched my chest and still bit into my fingers through the side of the muzzle. The girl is saying, "Keep going, keep going!" but there's nowhere for me to go except into the traffic coming up the street.
If you have a pit bull, I fucking hate you.

I just ordered the audio book of Rant from my library. Details to follow...

Well there's all those Werewolves chapters, and then there's that salesman that keeps appearing telling us about 'pacing your customer' and stuff. And then there's that Waxman dude.

So it's like maybe he can thread these chapters to the next books. 'Cause, just like Rant, Waxman didn't appear in it, he was talked [I]about[/I]. So maybe he'll appear or he'll be talked about some more

I wonder if he'll continue talking about Rant, 'cos like isn't that story done?
Will he prequal (sp?) it and speak about Charlie Casey, or a little more on Neddy

I really can't wait 'till the next one, I want to see where he'll take this.

Rant: Episode One
The galaxy is torn between two warring factions. The daytimers and the nighttimers have held a shaky alliance for decades. But even now new forces are amassing power and rabies in order to overthrow the current peaceful regime.
Meanwhile, the fabric of time is twisting into a form that verges on unrecognizable...

+Bonus Question: What would be the theme for Party Crashing tonight if you were responsible for coming up with it?

Relating to other novels... well, the obvious one of Chuck's is Fight Club. Both bumper tag and fighting underground are pre-existing trends, and I'm sure Party Crashing events will take place in more cities after the book, and then BOOM after the movie adaptation ;)

It was pointed out to me that any author whose name is bigger on the spine of a book than the title of said book has an ego problem.
Chuck Palahniuk's name is spine-present, to say the least.
Thoughts?

Also, Chuck's last few books:
[I]Fugitives and Refugees[/I]: tour guide to Portland
[I]Stranger then Fiction[/I]: Collection of non-fiction
[I]Haunted[/I]: collection of short stories woven together
[I]Rant[/I]: collection of fictional interviews

If nothing else can be said for Chuck, he's trying different shit. Two questions:
[B]If you like the experimentation:[/B] what kind of thing would you want or expect next?
[B]If you don't like the experimentation:[/B] do you wish he would just write straight-up novels?

It was pointed out to me that any author whose name is bigger on the spine of a book than the title of said book has an ego problem.
Chuck Palahniuk's name is spine-present, to say the least.
Thoughts?

I believe I read somewhere that Chuck didn't even want his name on the books at first. I guess he's gotten to the point now that people will by a book that says Palahniuk without even knowing what it's about.

While I was reading the book (or describing it to people) I always thought and said that it must be taking place in the future. But then towards the end - I started thinking that it was actually the present... Like the "old present" before all those people went back.

They said that the world would be a totally different place. There will be no nighttime and daytimers. There will be no ports. People will read books and watch TV.

I thought the way that that was done so subtly was really cool.

Some more random thoughts:

I'm not sure how it could be a trilogy. But I guess it would be cool. Maybe it would tell more about Simms. Or where Chester (Rant) went after Simms went away.

I thought the last chapter was sort of pointless. But that's how they do it in most oral biographies I would guess.

The thing I'm a little confused about - Rant is not going to live forever? right? He never murdered his parents. But people think of him like a God. So that's just the story outliving the man right?

I mean I understand that he could go back in time. But he didn't do anything when he did go back because he was too late.

The thing I'm a little confused about - Rant is not going to live forever? right? He never murdered his parents. But people think of him like a God. So that's just the story outliving the man right?

I mean I understand that he could go back in time. But he didn't do anything when he did go back because he was too late.

There was a lot of talk in the book about the myhical characters of the past. Maybe Hercules was some super strong mofo, or maybe he just lifted this really heavy rock one time and the story bloomed into legend.
So I think you're right. I don't think Rant is living forever.
But it's also important to consider the idea of immortality in stories. Thoughts?

RE: When animals attack: I was bit by my ex-bf's rottweiler, on my arm. the underneath flabby bit. It turned black. Didn't break the skin. It was painful in that, "I may puke." way. That was running thru my head while reading of Rant's critter fishing.

In re to other novels:
It's all about the reviled outsiders crushing the status quo in nastily ironic ways.
Finding alternative methods to gain power/control and fucking the mainstream.

Why do you think his books are so inspiring? Doesn't everyone have revenge fantasies about their, bosses, their CEO's, the "man"? Aren't these stories fulfilling ones?
Here are 'everyman" the losers/con artists/failures completely decimating the mainstream.
Hooray!

In response to the inquiry about the cover art, I believe that it is a bone covered in flesh. I am not at all sure whether the rectangular flesh tone part above the bone is skin or flat bone such as the skapula or a fragment of the pelvis. The bone on the cover looks like a fibula or a bone of the forearm(radius/ulna).

...I just ordered the audio book of Rant from my library. Details to follow...

what did you think of the audio book? i listened to rant rather than read it, so i'm wondering if i missed anything, tone-wise.

i loved the "pacing" theme in this book, how each character had his/her own way of pacing other characters. my favorite method was irene's cooking with dangerous objects - anyone have other thoughts on this?

also, re: trilogy. could it be that echo gets pregnant with chet's child (shot's dosing of her drink/food ends after rant dies, but before chet moves in) and the sequel will be about their child? that's a very soap opera-y speculation, i know :)

also, re: trilogy. could it be that echo gets pregnant with chet's child (shot's dosing of her drink/food ends after rant dies, but before chet moves in) and the sequel will be about their child? that's a very soap opera-y speculation, i know :)

I could see that. Because then the cycle would just continue.

But I keep hearing everybody talking about it being a trilogy. How do we know that it is? I'm just wondering.

I didn't think of the fact that this occurs in just a different version of the present, and we're now in the one they changed (w\o nighttimers and ports). That led me into the fact that during Green's notes on time travel he seemed to disregard the theory of parallel universes, which the existence of the book seems to suggest. However, mabye the book is just published in the midst of everything happening. For instance, I strongly expected Echo to be the last contributor, but she wasn't, as if she disappeared before the book was fnished, And then she is omitted from the "Contributors" chapter (chapter 42, 42 being the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. Possible reference?), just as wax ended up disappearing from photos and memories, she disappeared from the book. So, Rant came back and took her along for the time warp. I really like how everyone crucial to the story (save Irene) seemed to travel back.

Chuck is trying different hings, but he seems to be moving heavily towards sci-fi, with the ending of Haunted and now Rant. It seems to resemble Bradbury, lets just hope of Chuck continues, he can vary more than Bradbury did.

Also, duality seemed to be a big part of the book, Chet v Simms, Nighttimers v Daytimers, socially acceptable v rabid. There seemed to be two sides to alot of thing, just like with a coin, which were throughout the whole novel.

I have to go make breakfast..

edit: I saw a resemblance of Choke in what Echo did for money, only Victor Mancini tried to justify what he did by saying he was letting people feel like heroes, while it seems Echo was comfortable with people pitying her.

At a 2005 appearance in Miami, Florida, during the Haunted tour, Palahniuk commented that Haunted represented the last of a "horror trilogy" (including Lullaby and Diary). He also indicated that his then-forthcoming novel Rant would be the first of a "sci–fi trilogy" (of which Snuff is likely the second installment).[citation needed]

Important Disclaimer: Although this is Chuck Palahniuk’s official website, we are in essence, more an official ‘fansite.’ Chuck Palahniuk himself does not own nor run this website. Nor did he create it. It was started by Dennis Widmyer, who is the webmaster and editor of most of the content. Chuck Palahniuk himself should not be held accountable nor liable for any of the content posted on this website. The opinions expressed in the news updates, content pages and message boards are not the opinions of Chuck Palahniuk nor his publishers. If you are trying to contact Chuck Palahniuk, sending emails to this website will not get you there. You should instead, take the more professional route of contacting his publicist at Doubleday.